Several more airlines today announced plans to start charging for a second checked bag for domestic flights in May. My understanding is that even those that booked their flights before this announcement will be charged. If this is true, it is completely unfair and borderlone unethical that these extra charges be added long after a customer booked a flight. In my view if amounts to charging customers for something that was not part of the understanding of what was included in the airfare when he or she booked their flights. I know when they recently began charging for second bags in Europe there was a "grandfather" period for those who had already booked before the announced change in service.

What do you all think?

Who's charging people who bought their tickets before the announced change?

I know on Continental, you still get your 2nd bag free if you buy your tickets before 4/5.

Delta for sure. No mention on their website that those who bought their ticket before the announcement will not be charged. Looks like Northwest will allow those booked before March 29. US Air for those after Feb. 26. United for those after Feb. 4. I don't think some of these airlines made the announcement until after these dates.

UA announced on 2/4, and gradually the other airline followed.

But checking dl.com and the relevant thread on Flyertalk.com's DL forum, it does seem like they are charging you even if you buy before they announced in mid-March.

To quote Bob Crandall(former CEO of AA) that was on CNN business todayquot;the days of the traveling public paying $16 for their ticket and getting everything with it are gone"!

I flew on Hellta yesterday from VLD and checked two bags. The gate agent did not ask for my credit card or say anything about a fee. I bought my tickets on 2/3/03.

When I checked in at the kiosk to go to VLD a few days ago, it asked me how many bags I was going to check and it clearly and distinctly said "1 - Free" and "2 - Free", but "3+".

tdyls - The fee hasn't started yet. 5/1 for DL, 5/5 for most other airlines.

Generally speaking, this whole topic is much ado about nothing.

The unbundling of services from airfare itself has been happening for quite a while. See: Alcohol on TATL's, free meals on transcons, unlimited free baggage for examples.

Dave

Dave, that may be true, but the ramifications of <i>this</i> &quot;unbundled&quot; charge are very disconcerting.

To avoid the charge, people will inevitably carry on much more than they did when they could check a 2nd bag for &quot;free.&quot;

Please don't fool yourself into believing that people will pack less or somehow pack more efficiently. It won't happen. People will carry on MORE, and we'll all pay the price in longer boarding &amp; deplaning times, not to mention sheer frustration.

This &quot;unbundled&quot; charge is a bad idea. (And I never check more than one bag on domestic flights, so I'm not personally concerned about the fee itself.)

&gt;&gt;To avoid the charge, people will inevitably carry on much more than they did when they could check a 2nd bag for &quot;free.&quot;&lt;&lt;

Maybe, maybe not. Peoples packing habits are likely set in rather tough packing material since before the introduction of this fee.

&gt;&gt;People will carry on MORE, and we'll all pay the price in longer boarding &amp; deplaning times&lt;&lt;

Again, you could be right. The offset, of course, is that without this unbundling, I'd be paying for Ma and Pa Kettle's decision to bulk ship their kitchen appliances, while I simply have my carry on.

Of the two options (longer boarding times and higher fares) I'm gonna go with the former. You may well think that the latter is better. So be it.

Dave

There is zero evidence that the &quot;unbundling&quot; will result in lower fares. That is, there is no evidence that the airlines will lower (or not raise) fares due to the new fee.

It's simply another fee.

If you can present evidence to the contrary, please, by all means, do so.

Interestingly, Seattle Times just had an article in Sunday's edition discussing how airline fees for checked bags are contributing to overhead-bin congestion. Check it out.

And my original concern was Delta charging people who booked their flights BEFORE the announced change. I have no problem if the policy is clearly stated when you book.

Can you link the article discussing the increase in carry-on bags?

It's an obvious result of the new fee, of course, but I'd love to read the article.

I found the article, from the New York Times News Service:

<b>Airline fees for checked bags are contributing to overhead-bin congestion</b>

On a recent US Airways flight, Corinne Marasco was forced to check her small wheelie bag at the gate because there was no room left in the overhead bins. It didn't matter that the gate agents kept reminding passengers that they were limited to one item of carry-on luggage, plus one personal item; the overhead bins were stuffed with shopping bags, knapsacks and pieces of luggage that clearly didn't pass the size test.

&quot;I saw a woman with a roll-on suitcase, a medium-size tote bag and a pocketbook board the plane, and no one asked her to check the suitcase,&quot; said Marasco of her flight from New Orleans to Washington, D.C. The experience, the Virginia science teacher added, was so infuriating, &quot;I was sorely tempted to start emptying out the bin over my seat so I could fit my suitcase in.&quot;

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...carryon20.html